Two Girls, One Guy, One Decision
by Hydrochloric Cutie
Summary: This is the aftermath of the shooting, Christina and Teddy's interactions


"Dr. Altman!" Christina called out. She was practically running down the hallway at Seattle Presbyterian Hospital, looking for the Cardiothoracic attending of Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. Teddy Altman was standing at the end of the hallway. "Teddy!"

Teddy looked around for the familiar voice calling her name. "Christina, what are you doing here?"

"I have something to tell you," Christina replied. "Do they have conference rooms around here or something?"

"Yeah, here," Teddy motioned to a room across the hall. They got into the room and Christina closed the door. "What's with all the secrecy?"

"I wanted to let you know about a few people who got shot," she said carefully. "Derek got shot in the chest."

"What? Where?" Teddy asked, almost frantic. "Who operated on him? Is he dead?"

"He got hit from fifteen feet away, upper chest just left of the midline," Christina began. "He's alive."

"Who operated?"

"I did."

"?"

"There was no one else, you and Owen had left. Avery and I operated and fixed him."

"You flew solo on your best friend's husband, you must be reeling," Teddy commented.

"Not as bad as when Mr. Clark, the shooter came in and put a gun to my head."

"He did what?" Teddy asked, completely shocked.

"He wanted Derek to die, so Avery pulled the leads to his electrodes, 'killing him'. Then the guy left. But Owen came in, tried to distract him, keep him from shooting Meredith. But, um. Owen got shot."

"Where?" Teddy asked quietly, her heart practically stopped.

"Left shoulder. Meredith said it was a through and through," Christina said.

"He's okay?"

"He's on bed rest for the day," Christina iterated. "But he's going to be released tomorrow, surgery pending where the bullet hit."

"Oh, thank god," Teddy sighed, collapsing into one of the rolling chairs. "He ran back in."

"What?"

"We had been evacuated, with our patient; but he heard you were still inside. He made a run for it, and headed back in to find you."

"He found me, bawling like a baby."

"Christina, you had a gun to your head," Teddy said. This conversation would be the hardest thing to have, but she knew that Owen picked Christina in the end. "You did something not many people could do. You could have stopped."

"No, I couldn't have," she said. "He was so close to shooting me, but I still kept working. Owen came in and he got the bullet that was supposed to hit me. He said he loved me then he got shot," Christina started to cry. Christina went over and hugged the second year resident. "I'm sorry he left you."

"Why?" Teddy asked, rubbing a hand up and down her back. "I told him to go back in. I told him to choose. Owen and I will always be best friends, but he's my best friend. I can't stay out of his life, but when he had to choose who to love, he chose you."

The two women sat there in silence for quite a while before Teddy backed away. "I have to go check on Alex."

"You mind if I come with?" Christina asked.

"Uh, sure," Teddy said, a bit leery. Christina followed her out of the conference room and down the hall to the recovery room that Alex Karev was currently inhabiting. As soon as she saw him, the tears came back, unwillingly to her eyes. She walked over to the uninjured side of her co-worker/friend and held his hand between hers. Teddy checked the wound and make sure everything was still on track. Teddy finally saw the compassion that Owen saw in her. So she sighed and bowed out gracefully, leaving Christina and Alex alone in recovery for a bit.

It was not an hour later, while Teddy was still filling out paperwork on Alex's surgery, Christina walked out of Alex's room – having spoken to him once he woke up briefly. She walked up to the blonde woman and tapped her shoulder gently. "I was going to head back to Grace, you wanna ride?"

"Oh," Teddy said, a bit taken aback. "Uh, sure. Just give me like fifteen minutes to square this paperwork all away."

"Sounds like a plan," Christina said, giving her a slight smile; not one of 'I won and you lost' but a genuine smile. "Would you be up for a visit with our favorite military personel?"

"I think that would be a good idea," Teddy replied, giving her a smile in kind.


End file.
